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Welcome to the main discussion thread for the Marvel Cinematic Universe! This pinned post is here to establish some basic guidelines. All of the Media Forum rules still apply.

  • This thread is for talking about the live-action films, TV shows, animated works, and related content that use the Marvel brand, currently owned by Disney.
  • While mild digressions are okay, discussion of the comic books should go in this thread. Extended digressions may be thumped as off-topic.
  • Spoilers for new releases should not be discussed without spoiler tagging for at least two weeks. Rather, each title should have a dedicated thread where that sort of conversation is held. We can mention new releases in a general sense, but please be courteous to people who don't want to be spoiled.

If you're posting tagged spoilers, make sure that the film or series is clearly identified outside the spoiler tagging. People need to know what will be spoiled before they choose to read the post.

    Original post 
Since Thor and now Captain America came out this year, I wanted to get what Tropers thought of the concept and execution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general. Personally I love the idea and wonder why this idea hasn't been seriously tried before. It sorta seems to me like the DCAU in movie form (And well, ummm, with Marvel), and really 'gets' the comic book feel of a shared universe while not being completely alienating.

Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM

Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#103751: Jun 13th 2019 at 9:30:04 AM

Plot twist: Talos drinking a soft drink is not actually a Pulp Fiction reference but a Reservoir Dogs reference.

Demongodofchaos2 Face me now, bitch! from In a Cultivation World (Ancient one) Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Face me now, bitch!
#103752: Jun 13th 2019 at 11:46:06 AM

On Kilgrave: Eh, I always found him to be a discount version of the Shadow King, myself.

Watch Symphogear
slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#103753: Jun 13th 2019 at 11:49:53 AM

Who the fuck is the Shadow King?

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
Beatman1 Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Gone fishin'
Theokal3 Since: Jan, 2012
#103755: Jun 13th 2019 at 11:52:36 AM

[up][up]A villain from Storm's origin story if I remember it correctly. I think he was a powerful african telepath crime lord who was using her for profit, until Xavier arrived and defeated him in a telepathy duel. That's how Storm joined the X-Men.

Edited by Theokal3 on Jun 13th 2019 at 8:52:50 PM

Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#103756: Jun 13th 2019 at 11:53:04 AM

Psychic foe of the X-Men, is essentially a psychic, telepathic parasite who's a thinly-veiled metaphor for depression. Also main antagonist in Legion

"All you Fascists bound to lose."
chasemaddigan I'm Sad Frogerson. Since: Oct, 2011
I'm Sad Frogerson.
#103757: Jun 13th 2019 at 11:56:17 AM

[nja][nja] Rap! [nja][nja] Rap! Go! Go! Go! Go!

Not seeing much of connection between the two though...

Edited by chasemaddigan on Jun 13th 2019 at 2:57:31 PM

Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#103759: Jun 13th 2019 at 12:10:17 PM

That's not ambiguous. There is only one timeline, straight from the horse's mouth.
So..did you look at the other stuff that page quoted?
When a fan asked about Loki disappearing with the Tesseract, McFeely offered up a tease.

“We knew when we did that, it offered some possibilities to anyone who wanted possibilities.”

Yes, there's only "one timeline" — up until something big changes (not stepping on a butterfly, like they said, but something bigger, like removing an Infinity Stone) — and then the timeline splits. Otherwise, again, it makes no sense. Loki, as they stated, is still out there with the Tesseract.

Y'all can personally attack me all you want, but when you're claiming that the writers of the film do not understand how the mechanics in the film that they wrote function, I have a hard time believing that the problem is me.
There are two writers and two directors, all of which have different opinions on the time travel. If your statement is "one of the writers is completely correct" while saying all the rest of them (including the other writer and the Russo Brothers themselves) are wrong, the problem isn't me.

Edited by alliterator on Jun 13th 2019 at 12:13:57 PM

Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#103760: Jun 13th 2019 at 12:22:28 PM

Mod advised us last page to drop it. At for a while.

Edited by Tuckerscreator on Jun 13th 2019 at 12:24:00 PM

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#103761: Jun 13th 2019 at 1:07:07 PM

Shadow King is actually pretty shit himself. Because he had a lot of big stories in the early 90s when coherence went out the window.

He was supposed to be built up to be the biggest X-Men villain that would tie together every mutant group into one huge conflict and then that didn't happen.

Edited by Bocaj on Jun 13th 2019 at 4:07:47 AM

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#103762: Jun 13th 2019 at 1:08:25 PM

Didn't he take over Legion at one point, though? I thought that was a big storyline. The Muir Island Saga, I think.

Edited by alliterator on Jun 13th 2019 at 1:08:50 AM

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#103763: Jun 13th 2019 at 1:11:21 PM

Yes but it was kind of shit.

He just made everyone dress sexy for a while.

EVIL SEXY.

Edited by Bocaj on Jun 13th 2019 at 4:11:50 AM

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#103764: Jun 13th 2019 at 1:12:36 PM

Now that sounds like a low-tier Kilgrave move.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
RavenWilder Since: Apr, 2009
#103765: Jun 13th 2019 at 2:07:53 PM

Sounds more like the Hellfire Club's secret agenda for the world.

Theokal3 Since: Jan, 2012
Gaon Smoking Snake from Grim Up North Since: Jun, 2012 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#103767: Jun 13th 2019 at 3:22:56 PM

Shadow King is one of my favorite X-men villains, but he's definitely misused. His finest hour was probably Joe Kelly's Psi-Wars (back when he was against Psylocke), but he's had his moments (fighting the Phoenix in the 30's, taking hold of Karma, possessing alternate-reality Xavier).

The concept of the character is just fascinating to me. He's a psychic parasite with no fixed form who feeds off the despair of others to fuel himself as a sort of avatar of misery, sapping away their willpower and every living strength. As such, he can never be really destroyed, only temporarily repelled, but he will always return. You can never destroy the Shadow King because he'll always be here as long as there is human misery to call upon him.

He's also a very self-evident allegorical character for the concept of depression (which is why he's almost always beaten in the astral plane after the character confronts his inner demons), and as someone who has depression and dysthymia (or Persistent Depressive Disorder), I always found him rather familiar to me.

There are some fun side-things too, like the fact the Shadow King is effectively a astral creature and thus alien to our pleasures of the flesh, meaning that when he takes control of people's bodies he gorges himself in said pleasures (usually food, but "pleasures of the flesh" is a wide definition).

"All you Fascists bound to lose."
alliterator Since: Jan, 2001
#103768: Jun 13th 2019 at 3:30:21 PM

More recently, after Xavier's death, the Shadow King and Astral Xavier dueled for centuries (well, centuries their time, years our time) on the Astral Plane, which eventually spilled out onto the real world. Xavier eventually defeated him and even got a new body, courtesy of Fantomex.

Edited by alliterator on Jun 13th 2019 at 3:31:11 AM

Weirdguy149 Former King from Lumiose City Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: I'd jump in front of a train for ya!
Former King
#103769: Jun 13th 2019 at 4:55:43 PM

He was also a Monster of the Week for Wolverine and the X-Men (which I feel is very underrated as an X-Men TV show).

The legend has returned.
slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#103770: Jun 13th 2019 at 4:57:21 PM

So how is the Purple Man a discount version of him?

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#103771: Jun 13th 2019 at 8:58:31 PM

Purple Man's threat level tends to be far more personal, barring storylines where bigger and badder villains exploit him.

Shadow King is in the running for Arch-Enemy to Professor Xavier, the most powerful telepath in the world.

Disgusted, but not surprised
slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#103772: Jun 13th 2019 at 9:07:54 PM

Huh I think I remember him from an episode of X-Men Evolution from a Storm-centric episode.

Hmmmh if he could actually give Storm some shit for herself he could be useful even if he's already used in Legion.

Also from what I read Thanos' overpopulation spiel was from the comics. Apparently it was originally Death who believed the universe was overpopulated & headed for mass extinction so she was the reason why Thanos did the original snap.

So they kinda composited Death & Thanos for the movies.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#103773: Jun 13th 2019 at 10:14:36 PM

Yep. Although Death is omniscient while Thanos is basically a space techbro who read only one book.

slimcoder The Head of the Hydra Since: May, 2013
The Head of the Hydra
#103774: Jun 13th 2019 at 10:15:43 PM

Though he wants to be a farmer so who's to say he read any books at all? tongue

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
Tuckerscreator (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#103775: Jun 13th 2019 at 10:19:03 PM

It’s his Hameau de la Reine, the “back to nature” private retreat.


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